tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24275477946034535032024-03-13T11:15:57.628-07:00Jean E. Lane's Imagine ThisA "kid friendly" blog chock full of facts, science, and adventure. Exploring the literary world along with writing tips, skygazing, focusing on Mars and outerspace. Who knows what the future will bring with this blog...hence the name, Jean E. Lane's Imagine ThisAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-16989942515719035212016-08-04T12:54:00.000-07:002016-08-04T12:54:06.552-07:00
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Zubeneschamali:
What Is It and Where Is It? </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Pronounced, zoo-ben-es-sha-mali, rhymes with
Obi-Wan-Kenobi of Star Wars fame, this tongue-twister name of a star and its
discovery dates back to thousands of years B.C. The name originated from the
Arabic and translates to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Northern
Claw</i>. When first discovered this emerald green star (yes, green) was
located in the constellation Scorpio. The name makes perfect sense in liaison
with its partner star called Zubenelgenubi, which means <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Southern Claw</i>. Later, the Romans came into play when they
determined that the “claws” of Scorpio should belong to the constellation
Libra. They not only redrew the boundaries of these two constellations but
changed the name of Zubeneschamali. It is now better known as Beta Libra. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Zubeneschamali, as the star is still tagged, is the
brightest star in the constellation Libra. It is just a bit brighter than its
partner star. What makes this star so unique? Well I, for one, love the fact
that it is the only naked-eye star that is green. Some scientists and star-gazers
disagree. If it is truly green, then it is the only green star among the vast
amount of stars in the sky. Why is this? Astronomers and sky-gazers can agree
on one thing: people see colors differently. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To define the debate a little more, Zubeneschamali
is classified as a Class B star, which typically is a blue-white star. So you
can understand the confusion. Some of the explanation can be attributed to the
fact that this star is 160 light years away, four times the size of our Sun,
twice as hot, and spinning rapidly. On occasion, several star-gazers will get
together to observe this star in the late southern summer sky with their naked eye.
If you do not see green, then try binoculars. Some will see green and others
only white. I say it is GREEN.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In addition, Zubeneschamali is at the center of a
centuries-old debate. Over two thousand years ago it was listed as the
brightest of all stars of the constellation Scorpio, even brighter than Antares.
A few centuries later, however, the great astronomer Ptolemy described Antares’
brightness equal to Zubeneschamali. Today Antares appears five times brighter.
Has Zubeneschamali dimmed over the years,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a> or has Antares
gotten much brighter? A new debate is waging that this infamous star may be a
“variable” star. So now we have a green star (that scientists say is not green)
but may be a “binary” star (one star eclipsing another) which causes the
dimming effect. You can see why this star is one of my very favorites…it has
history and mystery. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Images & Info: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/libras-zubeneschamali-the-only-green-star"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">http://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/libras-zubeneschamali-the-only-green-star</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My sources: EarthSky.org, UniverseToday.com, jackstargazer.com,
stars.astro.Illinois.edu, constellationsofwords.com, and Wikipedia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-55719674038282215342016-05-11T06:12:00.001-07:002016-05-11T06:12:12.206-07:00
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Planetarium
or Observatory? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Do you know the difference between the two? Maybe
you have gone to a planetarium to watch a show about the stars, planets, and
other objects in the universe. Perhaps you remember going to an observatory to
actually look through a huge telescope or smaller ones to see objects in the
night sky in real time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">planetarium</b>
is a theater built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows
about astronomy and the night sky or for training in celestial navigation.
Astronomy is the study of those objects and celestial navigation is the
position or where to find those objects to identify them in the night sky. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The dominant feature of most planetaria is the large
dome-shaped projection screen at the top of the room onto which stars, planets,
and other celestial objects can be made to appear and more realistically to
simulate the complex motions of the heavens. These scenes can be created by
using various technologies. For example there is the precision-engineered ‘star
balls’ that combine optical and electro-mechanical technology, such as
projectors, video, and fulldome systems and lasers. The technologies used are
linked together to provide the most accurate motion of the sky. The display can
depict the sky in the past or present as it would appear from any latitude on
Earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">An <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">observatory</b>
is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Some of these
disciplines would be astronomy, climatology, meteorology, geology,
oceanography, and volcanology. The structure is designed to accommodate the
discipline that it is studying. When I think of an observatory I think of one
geared towards astronomy. This would contain an astronomical sextant and one
large telescope for viewing. Some larger observatories may contain more than
one telescope. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There are ground-based, radio, space, and ancient
(such as Stonehenge) observatories. If you’ve never been to one and want to
experience this firsthand, a planetarium is the best place to start. Some
college planetariums are open to the public during certain months; usually on a
Friday. Check their schedule for months, days, and times. There is usually a
small fee to view and listen to the show. At some colleges, if the night sky is
right for viewing, they may have a large mobile telescope they wheel outside. You
may see the rings around Saturn and some of its moons for the first time or the
hazy Andromeda Galaxy! Have you seen Mars? How about the great Orion Nebula? What
would you like to see? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Get excited, go
see what’s out there! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Images and more information: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://floridaastronomy.weebly.com/planetariums-observatories.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">http://floridaastronomy.weebly.com/planetariums-observatories.html</span></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Ref: Florida Astronomy, Orlando Science Center,
Seminole Community College. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-24326200659256926612016-03-13T12:59:00.001-07:002016-03-13T12:59:30.980-07:00
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Messier
31: The Andromeda Galaxy<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Next to our own Milky Way galaxy, Andromeda is the
most well-known galaxy in our universe. At the distance of 2.5 million
light-years away, it is the most distant thing we can see with our naked eye. A
spiral galaxy, approximately 260,000 light-years across, is the largest of our
local group of galaxies, which includes our own Milky Way spanning 100,000
light-years across. On a clear and dark winter night, M31 can be seen as a
fuzzy patch of light. It’s an inviting target for binoculars or a telescope. We
are best able to see it starting in the fall when it’s high enough in the sky
to be seen from nightfall until daybreak. In late September and early October
Andromeda shines in the eastern sky at nightfall and stands high in the west at
the onset of dawn. Winter evenings are also good for viewing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How do we find the Andromeda galaxy? The easier way
I have found is to use the constellation Cassiopeia, the Queen. It’s easy to
recognize because it is in the shape of a “W.” I generally look northward on
the sky’s dome to find this constellation. By finding Polaris (the North Star) and
by finding the Big Dipper nearby, I can easily see that the Big Dipper and
Cassiopeia move around Polaris like hands on a clock. In Cassiopeia, the star
“Schedar” points right to Andromeda. Schedar is the second <u>bottom</u> star
in the “W.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When Andromeda was first photographed in 1900 it was
thought to be a cloud of gas within our Milky Way and called the Andromeda
Nebula. It wasn’t until the 1920’s that Edwin Hubble determined that Andromeda
was outside the Milky Way, that it was an individual galaxy, and that these
points of light were indeed stars. It wasn’t until 2006 that the Spitzer Space
Telescope revealed that Andromeda contained one trillion stars. That’s over
twice the amount of stars in the Milky Way, which is estimated to be 200-400
billion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So what have we learned since 964 when a Persian
astronomer found Andromeda and described it as a “small cloud?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, new stars, as well as old stars, could
be found there with a dense concentration toward the center. It has a double
nucleus, which I interpret as a double “massive black hole,” at the center. As
a matter of fact, 26 black holes have been found in the galaxy to date, but not
all are massive. There are 450 globular clusters orbiting in and around
Andromeda. More recently the KELT North Telescope has detected two large
planets in this galaxy: KELT-1b and KELT-1ab. An ancient companion galaxy was
ripped up and consumed by Andromeda; the clouds are the remains of the stars of
this prior galaxy. There are 14 dwarf galaxies nearby that it regularly
bullies. Andromeda is blue-shifted, which means that it and the Milky Way
galaxies are on a collision course. But we needn’t worry;<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>
this won’t happen for another 4 billion years. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Images and more information: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/gallery_andromeda.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/gallery_andromeda.html</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">References: EarthSky.org, NASA.org, Space.com,
HubbleSite, AstronomyNow.com, CalTech, WISE.ssi.berkley.edu, and Wikipedia.org.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-63523179923677891512016-01-22T12:47:00.001-08:002016-01-22T12:47:09.236-08:00Jean E. Lane's Imagine This: ALMA: InSearch of Cosmic Knowledge ALMA, short fo...<a href="http://jeanelanesimaginethis.blogspot.com/2016/01/alma-insearch-of-cosmic-knowledge-alma.html?spref=bl">Jean E. Lane's Imagine This: ALMA: InSearch of Cosmic Knowledge <br />
ALMA, short fo...</a>: ALMA: In Search of Cosmic Knowledge ALMA, short for “Atacama Large Millimeter Array,” is the largest observatory ever built. The ob...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-68271192260881269362016-01-22T11:41:00.000-08:002016-01-22T11:41:01.942-08:00
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">ALMA: In
Search of Cosmic Knowledge</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">ALMA, short for “Atacama Large Millimeter Array,” is
the largest observatory ever built. The observatory is located at an altitude
of 3.1 miles high on the Chajnantor plateau in the Chilean desert near San
Pedro De Atacama, in a place so dry and red it appears that it could be Mars.
Dozens of antennas stare at the sky in unison. There is an array of 66 radio
telescopes with a diameter of 39 feet and 23 feet observing the sky at
millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelengths. They can see deeper and farther in
this light than any telescope before. ALMA’s purpose is to provide insight on
the birth of stars as well as detailed imaging of local star and planet
formation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As you might expect, a project like this was an
international partnership between Europe, the United States, Canada, several
countries from East Asia and the Republic of Chile. With 30 years of planning
and 10 years of construction the entire project took thousands of scientists
and engineers from around the world to complete. The total price tag was
approximately $1.3 billion dollars and was split by the three sponsoring
regions. Of the total cost the United States taxpayers contributed about $500
million. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Llano de Chajnantor Observatory in Chile has
been fully operational since March of 2013. ALMA combines dozens of these individual
radio telescope dishes into a single observing instrument. What is amazing to
me is that the resolution will be five times greater than that of the Hubble
Space Telescope. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Some facts about ALMA that intrigued me: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The observatory is accurate enough to
detect a golf ball nine miles away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This high altitude is one of the driest
places on Earth. This means no clouds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The dish design is almost perfect which
prevent any loss of incoming radio waves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Each ALMA antenna must be kept at a
chilling -452 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent noise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This will allow astronomers to see into distant
gas clouds to study star and planet formation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">ALMA means “soul” in Spanish and “learned” or
“knowledgeable” in Arabic. It will be interesting to see what information we
can learn from our collective efforts in our search for knowledge about our
universe. I find it a bit ironic that ALMA, in her otherworldly setting,
sitting high atop a snow-capped plateau, surrounded by volcanoes, is also
stepping up the search for alien life…somewhere…out there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">For images and information visit: </span><a href="http://www.almaobservatory.org/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.almaobservatory.org/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My sources: Alma Observatory, Space.com, The
Telegraph UK, </span><a href="http://www.phys.org/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">www.phys.org</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">,
</span><a href="http://www.eso.org/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">www.eso.org</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">,
, The Planetary Society, and en.wikipedia.org. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-11067352556081028372015-11-24T06:12:00.000-08:002015-11-24T06:12:36.347-08:00
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Quintenary
Star System: Anything But Ordinary<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We’ve all heard about binary stars (one star
revolving around another). The most popular binary stars are Mizar and its
fainter companion star Alcor. To find them, look for the Big Dipper and find
the handle; you’ll spot Mizar first as the middle star of the Big Dipper’s
handle. Look closely and you’ll see Alcor right next to Mizar. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Harder to find are the trinary star systems, or
triple star systems. It’s interesting to me because usually two of the stars form
a close binary system while the third star orbits this pair at a distance in a
much larger orbit. One such system is the Alpha Centauri star system with
Proxima Centauri at a distance of 4.22 light years. It is the closest star to
Earth beyond our own Sun. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Kepler Space Telescope observed KIC 2856960 for
four straight years before astronomers seemed to have enough data to make a
determination. But when three astronomers, Marsh, Armstrong, and Carter in the
UK started digging into the numbers, they discovered the system was anything
but ordinary. First they observed two stars in close orbit of one another: a
binary system. The smaller star seemed to orbit the larger one every 6 hours.
However, there appeared to be a third star that entered into the equation every
204 days. This was throwing off their results. As they diligently worked out
their dilemma on paper, other astronomers became involved. It’s the fact that
they could not find a precise set of masses and radii for the component stars.
We can’t explain why this star system is producing an ‘impossible’ light curve.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As the team studied the data from KIC 2856960 they
saw a small dip in brightness about 4 times a day and a larger dip every 204
days. Okay, not a big deal; it’s a triple star system, so let’s move on to other
data. But they were drawn back to their results to look at it with even more
detail. After all, this was tricky, and there were all sorts of things that threw
off results, such as starspots and other stellar activity. The more they looked
at the data, the more confusing things got. At first glance, it looked like a
triple star system, but the stars’ orbits didn’t seem to fit. They kind of fit,
but there were fluctuations in the data. So the team tried another scenario and
found that a four-star system worked—a quintenary system—two sets of binary
stars! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This is anything but ordinary, and further data
needs to be collected, but it’s clear that this is not a simple, boring triple-<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>star system. We just don’t understand it yet. Perhaps the
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, will be able to shed some light
on this. TESS is scheduled to launch in 2017. Until then KIC 2856960 is likely
to remain a mystery. Is this a quintenary star system? Is there a planet hidden
in this system? Don’t you love a good mystery? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Recommended link:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><a href="http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/orbits.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/orbits.html</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My sources: AtlasoftheUniverse.com, space.com,
phys.org, pbs.org, atrobites.org, astronomy.com, and American Association of
Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-48046183096080686912015-09-06T13:24:00.000-07:002015-09-06T13:24:06.850-07:00
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Mordor
Macula, Vader Crater, Nostromo Chasma</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">By Jean E. Lane <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">New
Horizons’</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> flyby of Pluto and Charon, its largest moon
provided us with many incredible images. But the highly detailed images gave
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New Horizons</i> team an
unanticipated problem: What do they call all those mountain ranges, plains, and
craters? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What happens next is that the team intends to submit
them to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), who is the official
governing body for names of celestial objects. Here’s what’s currently being
proposed to the committee; how about choosing names from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Firefly, Alien, </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord of the Rings? </i>The<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> New Horizons </i>team actually asked for submissions
from the public, and they were only too happy to oblige.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Since Pluto was named after a god of the underworld,
the names must be drawn from underworld mythology. NASA offered the Cthulu
regio (a large region with color variances). Also chosen was the name Balrog macula
(meaning dark spot) which honored Lovercraft’s dark god and the underground
demons from stories by J.R.R. Tolkein.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">All that’s wonderful news, but it’s Charon, Pluto’s
moon, and the IAU rules permit names that reference “destinations and
milestones of fictional space” as well as fictional spaceships and travelers.
This notion grabbed the imaginations of many space fans, and their thoughts
went directly to the iconic science fiction shows and movies that they revere. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Thus, the suggestions were presented, and the
unofficial names, of craters are Vader, Skywalker and Leia Organa. For the plains
they propose names of Spock, Kirk, Sulu, and Uhura, which would dot the Vulcan
Planum. How about the Tardis chasma that crosses the Gallifrey macula?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This name, of course is in reference to The Doctor’s
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Doctor Who</i>) vessel and planet. It
also has been proposed that names from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Alien,</i>
such as Ripley crater and Nostromo chasma, would be excellent choices. The name
Serenity chasma in respect for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Firefly</i>
also has a chance to become a real place on Charon. There’s room for one from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord of the Rings, </i>the giant Mordor
macula at Charon’s North Pole. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Although they are nevertheless provisional, “We
still have a decent chance of getting these names approved,” stated <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New Horizons</i> planetary scientist Mark
Showalter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, the IAU has
previously approved features on Saturn’s moon, Titan, named Frodo and Bilbo,
and the first landing site on Mars is now called Bradbury’s Landing! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Ah, this is news that stirs the creative abyss of a
science fiction or science “faction” heart! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">References: NASA, The Planetary Society,
Mashable.com, International Astronomical Union, EarthSky, Washington Post, and
National Geographic</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-31158762609502550732015-08-01T10:38:00.000-07:002015-08-01T10:38:10.678-07:00
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">GLOBULAR
CLUSTERS…What are they?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You may have heard the term “Globular Clusters”
before, but exactly what are they? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According
to the Planetary Society: “Like stellar time capsules adorning the periphery of
galaxies, globular clusters contain some of the oldest stars in the universe.”
Some of these star clusters may seem to have the appearance of galaxies. This
is because they are a symmetrical system of stars with the highest
concentration of stars near their own center and bound together by gravity.
Imagine yourself on a world where the sky is always ablaze with the sight of
hundreds of thousands of stars as bright as the full Moon. Most likely these
stars would be the older, fainter, red and yellow stars. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The more dense globular clusters can be found in the
halo of a galaxy, whereas the less dense galactic, or open, clusters are
located in the disk of a galaxy. The clusters in the halo contain considerably
more stars than the open clusters. Globular clusters are fairly common; there
are about 157 of them currently known in the Milky Way Galaxy. Larger galaxies,
such as our neighbor Andromeda, may have as many as 500. Moreover, the giant
elliptical galaxies may have as many as 13,000 globular clusters. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The first globular cluster discovered was M22 in
1665 by Abraham Ihle, a German amateur astronomer. However, given the poor aperture ability
of early telescopes, individual stars within a globular cluster were not
resolved until Charles Messier observed M4, discovered in 1746. The designation
before a number refers to the catalog where the discovery is listed. The letter
“M” tells us it is listed in the Messier catalog, whereas “NGC” tell us it
could be found in the New General Catalog by John Dreyer. The designation
letter is something that I’ve wondered about and just learned more details in this research.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We have 157
cataloged globular clusters right in our own galactic neighborhood, the Milky Way. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There are too many to list here, but our largest cluster is Omega Centauri (NGC5139) and second is 47 Tucanae, both of which can be observed with the naked eye under the right conditions., M4 and NGC6397 are both 7200 light years away. Some other noteworthy clusters are NCG104, NGC4833, M55, M69, and M13. There are so many of these beautiful star clusters - out there, waiting for you to discover. </span></div>
<v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"><v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"></v:path></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas></v:stroke></v:shapetype><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Stunning images and more info at: </span><a href="http://www.astro.keele.ac.uk/workx/globulars/globulars.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.astro.keele.ac.uk/workx/globulars/globulars.html</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">My
sources: NASA.gov, en.wikipedia.org, spider.seds.org, astrosociety.org,
hyperphysicis.phy-astr.gsu.edu, astro.keele.ac.uk, Britannica.com, The
Planetary Society, ned.ipac,caltech.edu, and astronomy.com. <span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-62335540166158622252015-05-02T10:59:00.000-07:002015-05-02T10:59:46.212-07:00Does a Real-Life Death Star Exist?
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Does
a Real-Life Death Star Exist?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">No, I’m not talking about something from the movies.
That star would need to get close to a planet to destroy it. WR104, however,
has the potential to burn worlds from thousands of light years away. This is Wolf-Rayet
104 located in the constellation of Sagittarius about 2,222 parsecs away. Okay,
that’s about 8,000 light-years from us which may seem like a safe distance, but
consider that WR104 is 25 times the size of our sun, very dense, and much, much
hotter. Add to that mix the fact that this star is rotating rapidly and
expelling its gases creating a spiral around it; it is dying. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">At this level of brightness the radiation field
around the star takes on a life of its own and plays a most unusual role; it
sheds off the outer atmosphere of the star by photon pressure. Therefore,
Wolf-Rayet stars are so luminous that they are literally flying apart! This
creates a high-velocity stellar wind surrounding the star which first grabbed
the attention of astronomers. Wolf-Rayet stars are very rare, only 230 have
been discovered, so far, in our Milky Way Galaxy. Of these stars, half of them
have a binary companion star which burns just as hot as the main star. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">First discovered in 1998 by the Keck 1 Telescope,
this star was photographed, studied, measured, and cataloged. Scientists were
first taken by the size and beauty of this spiral image. They determined the
diameter to be 160AU (Astronomical Units), which is 160 times the distance from
Earth to the sun. Peter Tuthill, at the University of Sydney in Australia, has
been studying WR104 for years. He realized it rotated in a circle every eight
months and found one devastating fact: Earth looks down the axis of the system.
We are not looking at it from an angle, but dead-on, like looking down the
barrel of a rifle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Another fact which concerns astronomers is that
WR104 is not a single star system, rather a binary system. It has another Class
OB star locked in orbit with it. As they circle one another, plumes of
streaming gas are driven from their surfaces creating a fiery, colorful
pinwheel in space. Astronomers fear the fuse for this star is very short; it
may explode within the next few hundred thousand years. When it does it may
emit an intense beam or ‘gamma ray burst.’ It is impossible to predict whether
or not it will actually create the dreaded gamma ray beam directed at Earth;
the exact outcome is still unknown. Some reports say, “Not to worry,” others
say, “Earth is in line with a death-star.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I say, it’s a long time away; we have more important things to worry
about until then.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">For an image of WR104 visit: </span><a href="http://www.space.com/5081-real-death-star-strike-earth.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.space.com/5081-real-death-star-strike-earth.html</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My Sources: Astro Dept. at University of Michigan,
nature.com/news, dailygalaxy.com, popsci.com, science.time.com,
universetoday.com, space.com, and en.wikipedia.org <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-53067417952081576412015-03-14T13:16:00.000-07:002015-03-14T13:16:30.576-07:00
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Planet
Hunter: TESS</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will be
launched in 2017 as an Astrophysics Explorer mission. This satellite will be an
Explorer class planet finder. As the first ever spaceborne all-sky transit
survey, TESS will identify planets ranging from Earth-sized to gas giants that
orbit around their bright host star in the solar neighborhood. The mission goal
is to find detailed characterizations of these planets and determine their
atmospheres.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">NASA will launch TESS from Cape Canaveral, Florida
in August of 2017 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and will achieve a unique high
altitude orbit according to the mission’s top scientist, George Ricker. The
satellite will carry four wide field-of-view 16.8 megapixel cameras to cover
400 times the area of the sky seen by Kepler. In its two year mission TESS will
be circle nearby stars and look for planets. Part of the mission is a follow up
of observations from Earth to determine whether the alien worlds might be
suitable for life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">TESS is expected to monitor more than 500,000 stars
during its mission, searching for temporary fluctuations in brightness caused
by planetary transits. Transits occur when a planet’s orbit carries it directly
in front of its host star as viewed from Earth. It should be able to catalog
more than 3,000 transiting exoplanet candidates. This would include 500
Earth-sized and super-Earth sized planets as well as smaller rocky ice planets
in the ‘goldilocks’ or habitable zone. It is hoped that these observations will
refine the measurements of the planet masses, sizes, densities, and atmospheric
properties. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This will be the first ever spaceborne all-sky
transit survey which means that the search for exoplanets is heating up, and it
appears that Earth’s scientists have no intention of slowing down. Our sun is a
Class G star – or a yellow-white main sequence star. TESS will be able to detect
the variances in a star’s brightness and will be looking for Class M stars (or
suns) that are a bit cooler than our own sun. Class M stars are reddish stars 2
to 3 times more abundant as solar type stars. How many of these suns will we
actually find? What are the chances of finding another planet similar to Earth?
What are the odds of finding a planet that supports any type of life? I, for
one, am very curious to see what is out there. Aren’t you?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"><v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"><v:shape alt="Artist's concept of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Credit: MIT" href="http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/tess-mit_image.jpg" id="Picture_x0020_1" o:button="t" o:spid="_x0000_i1025" style="height: 89.25pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 156.75pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><v:fill o:detectmouseclick="t"><v:imagedata o:title=" MIT" src="file:///C:\Users\Jeanne\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.jpg"></v:imagedata></v:fill></v:shape></v:path></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas></v:stroke></v:shapetype></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">For more information and images of TESS please visit: </span><a href="http://www.stsci.edu/~pmcc/TESS/TESS_AAS_2014_factsheet.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.stsci.edu/~pmcc/TESS/TESS_AAS_2014_factsheet.pdf</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My sources: NASA.gov, tess.gfc.nasa.gov,
en.wikipedia.org, space.mit.edu, spaceflightnow.com, </span><a href="http://www.kavlifoundation.org/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">www.kavlifoundation.org</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">,
</span><a href="http://www.universetoday.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">www.universetoday.com</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">,
and </span><a href="http://www.stsci,edu/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">www.stsci,edu</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-79491442102788299952015-01-27T10:51:00.005-08:002015-01-31T07:15:38.354-08:00<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 30pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt; text-transform: uppercase;">WAITING FOR DAWN</span></b><br />
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Ceres the largest object in the main Asteroid Belt is
waiting for the arrival of Dawn as early as March 6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>, 2015. This
icy mass was originally called a planet when discovered in 1801 by an Italian
astronomer named Giuseppe Piazzi. Since that time and with some debate its
definition was changed in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union and
Ceres is now classified as a dwarf planet. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">If you are not familiar with Ceres, here are some
interesting facts:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">It is fourteen times smaller than Pluto.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">It is 590 miles in diameter. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">It constitutes about 30% of the mass of everything in
the asteroid belt. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">It completes a rotation every 9 hours and 4 minutes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">It is believed to have a rocky core with an icy
mantle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Its surface can warm to -36 degrees Fahrenheit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">It has an atmosphere but it is very weak. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">It has a mysterious bright ‘white’ spot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">While the world awaits the first visit to Pluto this
July by another mission, the space probe Dawn is nearing the end of its
seven-year, 3.1 billion mile journey deep into the Asteroid Belt. I’m,
wondering about the nature of this alien world. What does it look like? Will
there be mountains, craters, and “cryovolcanoes” that spew frozen water miles
into its thin atmosphere? What is that bright ‘white’ spot anyway? What lies
below that frozen surface…a liquid ocean? Although the chance of life existing
on Ceres is very low, scientists claim that if there is water there may be
life. Nevertheless, it’s exciting to imagine a mysterious, strange-looking sea-monster
world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Dawn could change the shape and scope of future space
missions. Dawn has already visited Vesta, the second largest object in the
Asteroid Belt a few years ago and will enter the orbit of Ceres in early March.
Travelling at 24,000 miles per hour is possible due to its twin ion thruster
engines where xenon atoms are bombarded with electrons to form ions. The ions
are charged and shoot out the engines up to 90,000 miles per hour. However, the
thrust effect is minimal on the probe because of a zero-gravity, frictionless
environment. Does this sound like science fiction to you? Perhaps you’ve
already seen it in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars, </i>when<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Darth Vader’s TIE fighter would speed
through the galaxy. Just like Darth Vader’s super-speedy vehicle, Dawn uses
solar energy to feed electrons into its power-hungry engines. I believe this
technology to be a stepping-stone to Mars. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">More info
at this link:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"> “Where is Dawn Now”: </span><a href="http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/live_shots.asp"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/live_shots.asp</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">My reference
sources</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">: </span><a href="http://www.earthsky.org/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">www.earthsky.org</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">, </span><a href="http://www.space.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">www.space.com</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">, </span><a href="http://www.planetary.org/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">www.planetary.org</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">, </span><a href="http://www.popsci.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">www.popsci.com</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">,
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov, </span><a href="http://news.discovery.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">http://news.discovery.com</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">To find
out what Dawn discovered about Vesta</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"> you can see what <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Emily
Lakdawalla</b>, of the Planetary Society has to say in her Blog at </span><a href="http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/10091306-what-did-dawn-learn-at-vesta.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/10091306-what-did-dawn-learn-at-vesta.html</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-80843724656787589082014-09-06T14:01:00.005-07:002014-09-06T14:01:52.055-07:00
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is a Supernova?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Have you ever seen an especially bright star
bursting into view in a corner of the night sky?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have been watching the sky for a
period of time and wondered why you missed seeing that bright star before,
maybe it wasn’t really there. Well, at least not as bright as it now appears. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“What happened,” you ask? That bright star is no
longer a star. Most likely it was a red giant star or supergiant red star,
depending on its size. That brilliant point of light you now see is the explosion
of that star, which has reached the end of its life. Supernovas can temporarily
outshine entire galaxies and radiate more energy than our sun in its entire
lifetime. Once every fifty years in a galaxy the size of the Milky Way a
supernova will occur. To put this in perspective, a supernova happens once
every second or so somewhere in the universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This series of events happens when a red giant star
has started the nuclear process and has a lot of gravity pulling it inward. The
star normally doesn’t collapse inward because there is a lot of nuclear fusion
happening inside it; this<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a> forces the energy outward. When
the fusion stops, the force of gravity pulls the star inward. When the inner
shell hits the iron core, a huge shock wave is created, and the star explodes. It
has gone supernova.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Exactly how a star dies depends on its mass. For
instance, our sun doesn’t have enough mass to explode as a supernova. That’s
good news and bad news for Earth. When our sun does die—in a few billion years—it
will swell into a red giant star that will vaporize Earth and all the planets
around it. After it destroys most of our solar system it will gradually cool
into a white dwarf.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Astronomers have been observing supernovas for quite
some time. The Chinese have records dating back to 1054 for one occurring in
the constellation we call Taurus. Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler observed
bright supernovas occurring in the Milky Way Galaxy in 1572 and again in 1604.
Today we can see remnants of all three of those supernovas, which appear as
expanding clouds of gas where each one was originally discovered. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Although astronomers are observing, studying, and
cataloging the occurrences of supernovas, there has not been an occurrence in
the Milky Way since 1604. Do you think the Milky Way is due for another
occurrence? Are the supergiant red stars, Betelgeuse in Orion (about 600 light
years away) and Antares in Scorpius (about 550 light years away) ready to go supernova?
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Visit the Chandra X-Ray Images site for images of
some incredible supernovas:</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><a href="http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/category/snr.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/category/snr.html</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My sources: Nasa.gov, Space.com, Science for Kids,
Wikipedia.org, Hubblesite.org, Calteh.edu. and national geographic science. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-25980826519730892762014-08-19T07:21:00.001-07:002014-08-19T07:21:17.581-07:00
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Venus</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – Earth’s Other Neighbor<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Let’s
talk about Venus, the second planet from the sun. So exactly how far away is it
from the sun? Well, that depends on where it is in its orbit. At perihelion
(closest) point it is 66.7 million miles, but at aphelion (farthest) point it
is 67.7 million miles away. Remember, everything in our solar system is moving.
Each planet rotates on its axis which determines the length of its day. Then
each planet rotates in its orbit around the sun, which determines how many days
are in its year. Did you know that even the sun itself does a slight rotation
in its center position of our solar system? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A year
on Venus equals 224.7 Earth days, but the Venusian day stretches on and on. One
day on this planet lasts about 243 Earth days. Why do you think that is? If you
said because it must rotate very slowly on its axis, then you’re right. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Venus
has been referred to as Earth’s sister planet only because of its similar size,
gravity, and composition, but unlike Earth, Venus has no moons. The surface of
Venus is hard to see because of the reflective clouds of sulfuric acid that
surround the planet. Venus has the densest atmosphere of any planet in our
solar system. The pressure on the planet’s surface is 90 times greater than
that of Earth’s. The probes that have been sent to the surface have collected
data but were able to last only a few hours. This is due to the extreme surface
temperature reaching 870*F. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
ancient Egyptians and Greeks thought Venus was actually two separate objects; a
morning star and an evening star. Now we know that Venus isn’t a star at all,
although it still maintains its nicknames of morning and evening star. When
Venus is trailing the sun, it’s at its brightest and comes into view just after
the sun sets; it becomes the Evening Star. When Venus leads the sun as it
travels across the sky, it will rise in the morning a few hours before the sun;
it then becomes the Morning Star. Currently Venus is the Morning Star, rising
in the East along the horizon with Jupiter. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Several joint missions of probes
and orbiters have been sent to study Venus since 1961. According to NASA the
first was called “Sputnik 7” launched by the USSR in February of 1961. There
have been many since then, but recently the “Akatauki” launched by Japan in May,
2010, failed in its mission but will return in 2015. The ESA (European Space
Agency) will launch an orbiter named “Bepi Colombo” in July, 2016. This is scheduled
as a Mercury orbiter with a fly-by of Venus. A complete mission timeline of probes
and orbiters can be found at the NASA site: <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/chronology_venus.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: blue;">http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/chronology_venus.html</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We do
know that Venus has mountains, valleys and over 1600 volcanoes, many of which
are still active. But we don’t know everything about Venus. Did it once have water?
Why does Venus have lightning but no rain? Did you know that Friday (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Friga</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dae)</i> came from the words meaning, “Venus day?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">For
additional information and videos, you may also want to visit: </span><a href="http://www.space.com/44-venus-second-planet-from-the-sun-brightest-planet-in-solar-system.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.space.com/44-venus-second-planet-from-the-sun-brightest-planet-in-solar-system.html</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">My
sources: Universetoday.com, PlanetFacts.net, Kidsastronomy.com,
Solarsystem.nasa.gov, Space.com, en.wikipedia.org/Venus, Planetfacts.net, and
randomhistory.com/Venus, and Stardate.com. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-49153250878959562382014-08-04T12:08:00.002-07:002014-08-04T12:08:57.203-07:00
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Cassini Mission to Saturn: Alive and Well</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Cassini-Huygens is the largest interplanetary
spacecraft ever launched by NASA which took place at Kennedy Space Center in Florida
on October 15, 1997. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its mission is to
study Saturn and its moons, especially Titan. Almost a seven year journey, it
arrived at its destination on July 1, 2004 and has already completed its first
mission. Cassini will orbit Saturn at least 76 times in its objective to study
five main areas: Saturn’s atmosphere and the interior, the rings, the magnetic
environment, icy moons, with a special interest in Titan. It was a group effort
by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So, what is so intriguing about the moon Titan?
Well, it’s Saturn’s largest moon and the second largest moon in our solar
system, next to Jupiter’s giant moon, Ganymede. The most interesting thing
about Titan is that it has an atmosphere, lakes, rivers and dunes, but its
bedrock is made of ice as cold as -292F, eroded by rivers of liquid methane. I’m
not a chemist, but from what I’ve read in my research, methane and ethane are
simple hydrocarbon molecules that can assemble themselves into amazingly
complex structures. Titan has both of these elements. Since complex hydrocarbon
molecules form the basis of life on Earth could the chemistry on Titan have
caused them to cross-over and form some type of life? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Some facts about the Cassini Mission: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Cassini
traveled 2.175 billion miles on its way to Saturn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It
takes about 1hr and 20 minutes for the radio signals to reach Earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Cassini
gets its power from three radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG’s) which <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>consists of a source of heat and a
system to convert that heat into electricity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Saturn
is about 75% hydrogen and 25% helium with other trace elements.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Saturn’s
rings are mostly water ice particles with some rock mixed in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Saturn’s
surface gravity is 107% of that of Earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">One
day on Saturn is 10.2 Earth hours long. A year is 29.46 Earth years long.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Saturn
has about 60 moons and counting. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Saturn
has an interior heat source that produces 87% more energy than the planet
absorbs from the sun. Is Saturn still forming (like a star) and using this
energy to do so? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
mission was extended in September of 2010 and called the Cassini Equinox
Mission. Since the craft is still healthy, scientists have again extended the
mission until September 2017. They now call it the Cassini Solstice Mission.
This will allow it to continue to study Saturn into its Summer Solstice of May 2017.
Hopefully we will find out more interesting facts about Saturn. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">More about the Cassini Solstice Mission at: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/introduction/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/introduction/</span></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My sources: NASA.gov, European Space Agency, Daily
Galaxy, LASP Colorado Outreach Education, and the California Science Center.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-14397030988547856772014-07-15T07:18:00.002-07:002014-07-15T07:18:54.321-07:00
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">PHOBOS AND DEIMOS – MARTIAN MOONS</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There are two small asteroid-like moons that orbit
Mars: Phobos and Deimos. Both are named after ancient Greek gods. The larger
moon, Phobos, passes across the Martian sky from west to east three times in
one Martian day (one sol). On Mars it would appear as half the size of a full
moon on Earth. It is so close to the surface that it would not be visible from
the Martian poles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Deimos orbits at about 12,470 miles from the planet and
moves slowly from east to west. This moon takes about 30 hours, a little over one
Martian sol, to orbit its host. Because of its distance from the planet and the
fact that it is only 8 miles across, it appears as a small dot of light in the
sky, more like a star than a moon. The surface of this moon is covered with a
layer of powdery dust that could be several hundred feet deep. Only the tips of
giant boulders can be seen peeking above the dust. Scientists believe the dust
formed as a result of billions of years of meteorite impacts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Phobos is the larger of the two moons at 14 miles
across, and it orbits Mars from only 3,700 miles from the surface of the planet.
Phobos is interesting because of its grooves and distinctive crater. It is
believed that Phobos survived a powerful impact that may have fractured its interior.
The impact may also be responsible for a series of long, deep grooves that
appear to radiate away from the crater to an oddly shaped area on the other
side of the moon. This impact gouged a large crater which has been named the Stickney
crater. Asaph Hall discovered the moons in 1877. He named the crater on Phobos “Stickney,”
his wife’s maiden name. He said if it were no<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>t for her
encouragement he would have given up his search for the Martian moons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Scientists can only speculate if these moons were
born of Mars itself or if they are captured meteors, though the more popular
belief is the latter. Much like our Earth moon, both Martian moons always face
the same side to the planet. Both moons were named after the sons of Aries, the
Greek god to Mars. Phobos means “fear” and Deimos means “dread.” Deimos seems
to be slowly spiraling away from the planet while Phobos is drawing closer, which
may cause it to collide with the planet in about 50 million years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m wondering: Will Deimos disintegrate and form a
ring around Mars before it would collide? Scientists believe there may be water
on Phobos; if so, will we create a base on Phobos to store supplies? What do
you think will happen?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Visit this link for images of Phobos and Deimos:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Mars&Display=Sats"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Mars&Display=Sats</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My resources are: NASA, Starry Skies, Universe
Today, and Space.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Discover my Lill and Mewe series books about Mars on
my website: </span><a href="http://www.authorjeanelane.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">www.authorjeanelane.com</span></span></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-67201252878944434762014-07-02T12:20:00.001-07:002014-07-02T12:20:07.295-07:00
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">OORT CLOUD - IS THIS REALLY A CLOUD</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">?<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Oort Cloud is not really a cloud at all but <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">if</b> we could ‘see’ it from a distance it
may have that appearance. It has yet to be observed, the Oort Cloud is a
spherical collection of icy objects presumed to exist in the far reaches of the
Solar System. It was first suggested by Jan Hendrik Oort in 1950, after his
observations of comets. He concluded that comets had the following things in
common:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Their orbits indicated that they did not
originate in interstellar space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">They come from all directions – there is
no single orbit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Their aphelia (farthest point) tended to
group at about 50,000AU </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">(the sun is 1AU from Earth).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Taking all of these
observations into consideration and the frequency that they occurred, Oort decided
that billions of potential comet material must exist in a spherical shell
surrounding the Solar System. Then given their distance from the sun and the
weaker gravitational pull, disturbances from objects outside the Solar System
could ‘knock’ these icy objects into plunging orbits around the Sun. This would
result in the comets we observe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Oort Cloud is still
generally acknowledged as the origin of the long-period comets, whereas the
short-period comets originate from the Kuiper Belt. The Oort Cloud is thought
to be an extension of the Kuiper Belt only much larger, containing billions of
objects and maybe trillions of small icy objects. Scientists believe that
during the planetary formation these objects were left-over debris. They were
caught and flung out to the edge of the Solar System by the gravitational pull
of Jupiter and Saturn, acting like a sling shot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Two of the most famous
comets, Halley and Swift-Tuttle, possibly higher orbit comets are ones that
were pulled into shorter period orbits by the planets. Long period comets, such
as Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp can appear at any time and come from any direction,
but these two bright comets can usually be seen every 5 to 10 years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We still have much to
learn about the Oort Cloud. To date, scientists believe this region may contain
the existence of two Oort Clouds, the inner and the outer clouds. They believe
that the objects that reside there formed closer to the sun and were scattered
to the outer regions due to gravitational effects. The last theory most
commonly accepted is that the Oort Cloud defines the outer most region of our
Solar System under the influence of the gravitational pull of our sun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Let’s take a look – Images and a video:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.space.com/16401-oort-cloud-the-outer-solar-system-s-icy-shell.html"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.space.com/16401-oort-cloud-the-outer-solar-system-s-icy-shell.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My sources: Kids Astronomy, Wikipedia, Solarviews.com,
Space.com, European Space Agency, Astronomy/Cosmos, and Universe Today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-73522503394151955492014-06-21T12:44:00.000-07:002014-06-21T12:44:35.178-07:00
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">THE
KUIPER BELT…Where is it?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The Kuiper Belt
is a disc-shaped region of icy objects located beyond the orbit of
Neptune.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The region was named after a Dutch
astronomer, Gerard Kuiper, in 1992. Scientists believe this area is far larger
than the rocky asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter. It is believed
this region is 20 to 200 times the size of the Asteroid Belt. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Some known facts about the Kuiper Belt
are</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
known icy worlds and comets in this region are much smaller than our moon. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The Kuiper
Belt is a donut shaped ring extending just beyond the orbit of Neptune from
about 30 to 55 AU (Astronomical Unit).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The distance from our sun to Earth is 1 AU, or 93 million miles. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Short
period comets that take less than 200 years to orbit the sun, originate in this
region. Long period comets that take more than 200 years, originate in the Oort
Cloud, which lies just beyond the Kuiper Belt. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">There
may be hundreds of thousands of icy objects over 62 miles in diameter within
the Kuiper Belt.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">There
have been eight identified dwarf planets orbiting within the Kuiper Belt and
several of these have tiny moons.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
first mission to the Kuiper Belt is New Horizons. New Horizons will reach Pluto
in 2015. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Gerard
Kuiper predicted the existence of such a region in space during the 1950’s. It
wasn’t until 1992 his theory was proven correct</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Detecting
objects in this region of space is not easy because they are very faint and
move very slowly. It takes hundreds of years for one of these objects to
complete one orbit around the sun.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Later, we have
come to realize that Pluto and its five known moons: Charon, Hydra, Nix, P4,
discovered by Hubble in 2011, and P5 more recently discovered by Hubble in 2012,
reside in the Kuiper Belt. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pluto isn’t
the only dwarf planet to take up residence there, Eris, Makemake, Haumea,
Quaoar, Sedna, Orcus, and Varuna orbit in the icy fringes of our solar system. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The Kuiper Belt
is still a busy place. There have been over a thousand objects discovered and
it’s theorized that there are as many as one-hundred thousand objects larger
than 62 miles in diameter yet to be discovered there. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">NASA’s New
Horizons spacecraft will reach this region in 2015, and capture the first ever
close up pictures of a KuiperBelt object, images of the surface of Pluto.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">For more information – check this site
out:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">New Horizons –
now in flight:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> http://</span><a href="http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?MCode=PKB">solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?MCode=PKB</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">My sources:
NASA, Windows to the Universe, Wikipedia, Universe Today, and European Space
Agency</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-82669476936117025022014-05-29T11:12:00.000-07:002014-05-29T11:17:35.296-07:00The Drake Equation<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Drake Equation: The Search for ET<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">N = R* f<sub>p</sub> n<sub>e</sub> f<sub>l</sub>
f<sub>i</sub> f<sub>c</sub> L</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what the heck is this
anyway?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So glad you asked. It’s quite an
intriguing formula and has to do with the probability of life existing
somewhere “out there.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1961, while
working as a radio astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in
Green Bank, West Virginia Dr. Frank Drake established a scientific formula which
became known as the “Drake Equation.” It was actually in 1960 that Drake began
his personal search for extraterrestrial intelligence which, shortly
afterwards, led to his establishing the SETI institute.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It’s an awesome concept
which was put into an equation over 50 years ago. Although Drake made some
assumptions to arrive at his equation, you must admit, it’s a great way to help
us organize our thinking in the way we search for extraterrestrial life. In
1960 his search was called Project Ozma. As Drake said, “For all we knew,
practically every star in the sky had a civilization that’s transmitting.” What
he found was that every star is <b>not</b> home to an intelligent,
communicative civilization. But even Carl Sagan said that SETI as a science
should be pursued. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">As we have learned over
time, there are many variables with Drake’s formula. The first three quantities
are ones we can observe with our current technology. It’s the last four terms
where the math gets a little fuzzy. We can say that life is ‘possible’ but not
that it actually exists. Scientists today are much more conservative with their
estimate and some won’t even speculate. If there is life, what percent of that
is intelligent enough to communicate with us? Drake’s answer was 1%. Even that
was a guesstimate. Of that 1% what are the chances that it would communicate on
a level we could understand? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">This may all change,
because today we are searching for exoplanets that resemble Earth in size and
temperature. Transiting Exoplanet Satellite Survey (TESS) and the James Webb
Space Telescope are both due to launch around 2018. They will be looking for
Earth-like planets orbiting small stars. Their mission is to concentrate on
atmosphere, gases, oxygen, water vapor or other gases that do not belong to
‘dead’ worlds. Sara Seager has revised the Drake equation to focus simply on
the presence of any <b>alien life</b>. Her focus is on M stars, the most
common. Her calculation suggested that two inhabited planets could be
discovered during the next decade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">N
= N*F<sub>Q</sub>F<sub>HZ</sub>F<sub>O</sub>F<sub>L</sub>F<sub>S<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></sub></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">This is the Sara Seager equation, a bit different than Drake’s original. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">As for me, well I hope
that we do find some fascinating, intelligent, and above all, friendly aliens
that would be tolerant of us.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">For
more information on this topic, please visit:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Drake
Equation:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.pbs.org/lifebeyondearth/listening/drake.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.pbs.org/lifebeyondearth/listening/drake.html</span></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Sara
Seager:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=28976"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=28976</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">My sources: </span><a href="http://www.astrociets,org/edu"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: blue;">www.astrociets,org/edu</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span><a href="http://www.space.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: blue;">www.space.com</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span><a href="http://www.astrobioloblog.wordpress.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: blue;">www.astrobioloblog.wordpress.com</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-75481408573139174382013-08-18T11:27:00.000-07:002013-08-19T13:32:17.239-07:00THE HELIOSPHERE<strong><em>THE HELIOSPHERE</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
The region of space governed by the Sun is called the heliosphere. This area is filled with plasma from the Sun in the form of the solar wind. Beyond the heliosphere, interstellar space exists, and it is filled with plasma from other stars. The heliosphere marks the division between the solar plasma and the interstellar plasma. It is the area where the pressure of the solar wind equals the pressure of the interstellar medium. <br />
<br />
I understand that all this is hard to picture in your mind, but try to imagine the heliosphere as a kind of bubble that contains the solar system. It's a magnetic sphere that reaches beyond Pluto and is caused by the solar winds. <br />
<br />
NASA's Cassini spacecraft suggests that the heliosphere may not possess the comet-like shape that scientists thought, but instead is more like a big, round bubble. This changes what they have thought for the past fifty years. The images indicate that the solar wind's interaction with the interstellar medium is instead more significantly controlled by particle pressure and the energy density of the magnetic field.<br />
<br />
The Voyager spacecraft(s) have crossed the termination shock several time as it moves in and out from the Sun. This is due partly because of the pressure of the solar wind, which can increase or decrease as it flows from the Sun. Before reaching the heliosphere the solar wind is slowed from supersonic to subsonic speed, and this creates a shockwave called the termination shock. <br />
<br />
So all this makes me wonder, when we have one, can our spacecraft travel safely beyond the heliosphere and withstand the termination shock? Can we protect the lives of the people inside? Of course, this means we are leaving our solar system. This is something to think about, one more thing to consider in space travel. <br />
<br />
More information at <a href="http://www.universetoday.com/32519/heliosphere/">http://www.universetoday.com/32519/heliosphere/</a><br />
<br />
references: <a href="http://www.universetoday.com/">www.universetoday.com</a>, <a href="http://www.cosmos4kids.com/files/solsyst2">www.cosmos4kids.com/files/solsyst2</a>, <a href="http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/heliosph.html">http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/heliosph.html</a>, <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016101807.htm">www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016101807.htm</a> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-83503955804813296112013-06-20T12:12:00.000-07:002013-06-20T12:12:00.296-07:00Finding Earth-like Planets<span style="background-color: white;">Astronomers are actively searching for Earth-like planets outside of our solar system - or as they say, exoplanets. Most of the planets they have found so far are <strong><em>enormous</em></strong>, at least the size of Jupiter. It's much more difficult to find planets as small as Earth. Now, scientists believe that 6 percent of red dwarf stars have Earth-sized planets located at the right distance from the star to be potentially habitable. </span><br />
<br />
Our Milky Way Galaxy may be home to approximately two billion Earth-like planets. This is based on a new study and initial data from NASA's Kepler space telescope. Based on Kepler's findings so far, the studies are up to 2.7 percent of all sun like stars in the Milky Way host so-called Earth like worlds. As of this February, Kepler has confirmed 15 new planets and found an additional 1,235 planet candidates, including a small planet outside of our solar system. Kepler will collect data for a minimum of three and a half years and plans to undertake a more complete census at a later date.<br />
<br />
What I have found in my research is that the closest Earth-like planet astronomers have reported may be only 13 light years away - or approximately 77 trillion miles. They have not identified it yet, but feel it should be there based on the teams' study of red dwarf stars. Most of us have heard of Gilese 581, a red dwarf star in the constellation Libra that lies about 20.5 light years from Earth. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) telescope in Chile has discovered Gilese 581d, a planet they speculate to have a rocky core, an icy layer, and a liquid ocean at the surface with an atmosphere. At this stage they can only speculate but it is possible. Gilese 581e is another planet looking much like Earth, except that it is very hot because it so close to its host star. <br />
<br />
NASA and the scientists working on this project favor Kepler-22b which was discovered about 600 light years from us, in another solar system. They view this planet as having the best chances of life because of the striking similarities to Earth. Its surface is a comfortable 72F and the star it orbits can almost be a twin of our sun. Although it is 2.4 times bigger than Earth, scientists suspect it probably has water and land making it a great target for life. Now scientists have found other planets in in the Kepler-22 group which makes this a study of 3 or 4 planets that may all be Earth-like. <br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">So how do scientists find these planets? That's a great question - there are four ways: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">The first is called the <strong><em>"radial velocity method</em></strong>": This is when stars are pulled back and forth by the gravitational pull of the planet. This allows them to measure the shift in the light frequency.</span><br />
Another method is <strong><em>"positional astronomy</em></strong>": This is when they take a measurement of the tiny shift in a star's location on the sky which is caused by the gravitational pull of a planet. They can determine mass and orbit as well. <br />
The "<strong><em>transit method</em></strong>": Scientists have found that a planet blocks out a small portion of the star's light when it passes directly between a star and the observer. They will watch it to confirm the fluctuations in the star's light. This means a planet is orbiting that star.<br />
Last is the "<strong><em>gravitational microlensing</em></strong>" method: This comes from Einstein's thoughts regarding his theory of relativity. I like this ~ gravity bends space. The planet's gravity will act like a lens for a short time to focus light from a star. This works well with more distant stars. It seems to warp space to cause a noticeable increase in brightness and a change in position of the star. <br />
<br />
I never said it's easy to find planets outside of our solar system. Most of them are very far away, but recently astronomers have found a planet that orbits a star called Alpha Centauri B, which is our closest star about 4 light years away or 23.5 trillion miles. It is a rocky planet but may be too hot to sustain life. Any time we can measure the distance in space using miles (even if it is trillions) this would be termed as being in our neighborhood. <br />
<br />
There's a plan to search in more depth for Earth-like planets: <a href="http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2013/04/kepler-mission-20-to-launch-in-2017-thousands-of-neigboring-earth-like-alien-planets-to-be-identifie.html">http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2013/04/kepler-mission-20-to-launch-in-2017-thousands-of-neigboring-earth-like-alien-planets-to-be-identifie.html</a><br />
<br />
My references include: NASA online, Daily Planet, StarDate.org, and dailygalaxy.com. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-57988425009015291892013-05-04T13:41:00.001-07:002013-05-04T13:41:55.465-07:00WHAT IS CURIOSITY UP TO NOW? <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Since its landing at the Gale Crater, Mars, Curiosity is now trekking westward from Glenelg to Yellowknife Bay and Point Lake. Did you know that the rover team is on Martian time? They are tracking Curiosity for 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35 seconds per sol (day), and this will last for one Martian year or 687 sols. Mars gets chilly, the temperature is about -130F degrees, and windy with wind gusts to 90mph. Oh and the rover only covers a distance of about 300 ft in a day.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In retrospect, the science team decided to name the exact landing spot “Bradbury Landing.” Glenelg was chosen because it’s a site that appears to contain three different rock types. Of interest is the sedimentary rock that we all know is formed by materials deposited by flowing water. What is indicated by the other various colors of rock in that area is yet unknown. It seems that what we do know is that Mars had an environment that was able to support water on its surface in the past. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As a matter of fact I came across this statement, “We have found a habitable environment that is so benign and supportive of life that probably, if this water was around and you had been on the planet, you would have been able to drink it,” said John Grotzinger of Caltech in Pasadena. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It has also been confirmed that the rock drilling results reveal elements found on Earth and clay containing not much salt which would indicate a lake may have existed there before. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember, the reason for this mission is to “search for organic life on Mars,” over a two year period.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Well, looks like we’ve determined time again that water did exist on Mars. Don’t get me wrong, that’s great news. But what else may have existed on Mars? Any life forms, no matter how small, are they like any life form on Earth? Perhaps they are completely alien. Now that would be something for discussion. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But how about this news – radiation levels on Mars now are comparable to that of the same levels the astronauts are experiencing on the International Space Station. What this means is that longer term surface exploration is possible, outside the possibility of solar eruptions or surface sandstorms.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This gives us all something to think about over the next decade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Personally, bar any yet unknown factors that would kill a manned-mission there, I think scientists are planning a visit if not colonization. We need to focus on that warp speed theory, so we can get to Mars in minutes, not several months or years. There is still a lot of work to be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You can check NASA’s map of Mars for the current location of Curiosity here:<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><a href="http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/whereistherovernow/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/whereistherovernow/</span></span></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">References: NASA, Universe Today, and Space.com<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-47163921932275677102013-04-12T14:02:00.000-07:002013-04-12T14:02:16.637-07:00THE NEBULA: WHERE STARS ARE BORNIn astronomy a nebula is defined as, "A diffuse cloud of particles and gases, mainly hydrogen that is visible either as a hazy patch of light, and either by emission or reflection, or an irregular dark region against a brighter background." That's a pretty good definition but when I see one, I define it as a breathtaking sight of colors and shapes in varying degrees of brilliance. I'm sure you have seen some of the images taken by the Hubble telescope over the years. <br />
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Did you know there are different kinds of nebulae? Yes, and some of the prominent ones are:<br />
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<strong><em>Stellar Nursery</em></strong>: This is a nebula where star formation is occurring. I like to refer to it as a "star nursery," as some scientists do. These nebulae are often illuminated by ultraviolet light which is emitted from the newborn stars. The Eagle nebula is a good example of a star nursery. But our closest star nursery is located in the constellation Orion, located only 1,350 light years from Earth. Just with the naked eye, (and when conditions are right), you can see a hazy patch by Orion's "sword," which is located just below the three stars in his belt. This is the Orion Nebula. With binoculars or a telescope you can see it even better. <br />
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<strong><em>Planetary Nebula</em></strong>: This is formed by a shell of gas which was ejected from certain kinds of intensely hot stars, as red giants or super giants. When these stars explode, only the super hot core remains. The first one, called the "Dumbbell Nebula" was discovered in 1764. These nebulae have nothing to do with planets.<br />
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<strong><em>Emission Nebula</em></strong>: This type of nebula glows because it is emitting light energy. The reddish light is created by the hydrogen atoms that are formed when electrons and protons combine. This process is caused when a very hot star stirs up a cloud of hydrogen gas. The "Horsehead Nebula" is in front of an emission nebula which illuminates the outline of the horse head.<br />
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<strong><em>Reflection Nebula</em></strong>: Is a type of nebula that glows as the dust in it reflects the light of nearby stars. These nebulae are often bluish in color because blue light is more efficiently reflected than red light. An example of one surrounds the Pleiades Cluster. <br />
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<strong><em>Ring Nebula</em></strong>: Just as the name implies, the Ring Nebula is a massive cloud of dust and gas that is shaped like a ring. There is a good example of one in Lyra, which is 2,000 light years from Earth.<br />
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Since there are so many of these scattered throughout the universe I like to visit the Hubble site to look at some of the images in their library. Looking at these is an awe-inspiring moment of how vast the universe really is and how tiny we are. <br />
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Please visit Hubble at <a href="http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/nebula/">http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/nebula/</a><br />
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Have your own awe-inspired moment. <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427547794603453503.post-35243526799470592722013-03-24T12:01:00.001-07:002013-03-24T12:09:05.422-07:00What is a Quasar? What is the Huge-LQG? In my last post I wrote about Pulsars which are neutron stars. They are the rapidly rotating compacted remains of a dead star, that emit a stream of dust and energy in the form of light. When viewed from Earth, they appear to be pulsating.<br />
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So is a Quasar, more stars? Not exactly. The word quasar means, "quasi-stellar object" or "quasi-stellar radio source." They are similar to stars because they are extremely luminous. However, quasars are in a class of extragalactic objects that emit an immense amount of energy, in the form of light. This is infrared radiation coming from a compact source. Meaning they are high redshift sources of electromagnetic energy. They have a light signature and an energy signature. I know it sounds complicated. Maybe it's because quasars are the most complicated and interesting stellar objects in our universe. <br />
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Recently, the Huge-LQG (Large Quasar Group) has been discovered. It's a group of 73 quasars, which at some point were thought to be at the center of their own respective galaxies. It stretches <strong><em>4 billion light years</em></strong> across (at its longest point). Our Milky Way Galaxy is <strong><em>only</em></strong> a small <strong><em>100,000 light</em></strong> <strong><em>years across</em></strong>. To attempt to make some sense of the scale of this huge quasar group, imagine that it would take "tens of thousands of our own Milky Ways" to equal the enormous size of the Huge-LQG. <br />
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What does this all mean? There's a little something called the "cosmological principle", which states,"if viewed on a sufficiently large scale, the properties of the universe are the same for all observers." So, us little Earthlings thought that if you look out into the universe from any point, (on Earth), then space should look the same no matter the direction from which you're looking. But, now we have learned this object is simply too large to fit into the confines of the cosmological principle. It appears that our little corner of the universe, what we can see of it, is unique to itself. <br />
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Don't you wonder what else is out there? We should feel like a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a grain of sand. We are only beginning to learn and understand this vast universe...and we have a long way to go!<br />
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Here is a link to the quasar cluster, "Biggest Thing in Universe Found." <br />
<a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/01/130111-quasar-biggest-thing-universe-science-space-evolution/">http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/01/130111-quasar-biggest-thing-universe-science-space-evolution/</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06815911760927114319noreply@blogger.com1